360-degree Simulated View of the Sky Between Two Supermassive Black Holes (VIDEO)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Caption

This 360-degree video places the viewer in the middle of two circling supermassive black holes around 18.6 million miles (30 million kilometers) apart with an orbital period of 46 minutes. The simulation shows how the black holes distort the starry background and capture light, producing black hole silhouettes. A distinctive feature called a photon ring outlines the black holes. The entire system would have around 1 million times the Sun's mass. Watch in 360 degrees on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Em4OFLjMux0 Download in HD formats: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13043

Credit

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; background, ESA/Gaia/DPAC

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